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Quarterback

Matthew Stafford had a nice bounce-back game after two subpar performances. He completed 27 of 45 passes for 423 yards, but was just 2 of 11 passing and took a sack in the red zone. Stafford said the Lions’ red-zone struggles were on him, but their issues inside the 20 are more about not having the playmakers to win one-one-one battles. Stafford was off on the ball placement on some of his throws. He didn’t hit a wide-open Marvin Jones in stride on the Lions’ second field-goal drive, when a better pass might have led to a touchdown. But he made plays with his arm and feet (scrambling for 11 yards on one third-and-10) and gave the Lions a chance to win. Grade: B

Running backs

Take out Stafford’s 11-yard scramble and the Lions averaged just 2.9 yards per rush Sunday. Their biggest issues, of course, were in red-zone situations, when Dwayne Washington and Theo Riddick combined for 4 yards on five carries. Washington was stopped short of the end zone on all four of his runs in goal-to-go situations. Riddick had two big catches in the second half after being used sparingly at the start of the game. Ameer Abdullah had just 27 yards rushing on 11 carries, but he made a heck of a block on Ryan Shazier’s blitz to give Stafford enough time to hit TJ Jones with a long pass in the third quarter. Grade: D-plus

Wide receivers/tight ends

Marvin Jones broke out of his slump with six catches for 128 yards, and Tate added 86 yards on seven catches while playing through a shoulder injury. Tate lost a key fumble in the second half when the ball simply popped out of his hand. TJ Jones (four catches, 88 yards) had a nice day, but the Lions don't win often enough against man coverage, a problem that was evident in the red zone. Tight end Eric Ebron had one drop early in the game and didn’t lay out for another pass that was just out of his reach, but he made a big block on Jamal Agnew’s 12-yard catch in the second quarter. Tight ends Michael Roberts and Darren Fells also couldn’t hold onto catchable balls. Grade: C-minus

Offensive line

Three penalties helped stall drives short of the end zone, but the Lions had one of their best games in pass protection all season. Cameron Heyward beat Graham Glasgow for the Steelers’ first sack, but Stafford was forced to hold onto the ball longer than he wanted because of good coverage downfield. Brian Mihalik, in his first career start, drew a false-start penalty on third-and-6 but was solid otherwise. Travis Swanson was called for a false-start penalty on the next play, and also had a red-zone holding penalty. Right tackle Rick Wagner aggravated his ankle injury but missed minimal time and helped keep good Steelers edge rushers at bay. Grade: B-plus

Defensive line

The Lions didn’t register a sack for the second straight game, and aren’t getting enough pressure from their defensive line. Ziggy Ansah and Anthony Zettel had big back-to-back run stops for loss in the fourth quarter, and A’Shawn Robinson had another effective game inside with four tackles and a batted-down pass. Robinson was ejected late when he lost his temper and threw a punch at a Steelers player. Zettel forced a fumble, and the line played well against the run, holding the Steelers to 75 yards on 29 carries. Grade: B

Linebackers

The Lions didn’t get much tackle production (10 stops total) out of their linebackers, but rookie Jalen Reeves-Maybin started at one outside spot and showed up with a couple nice plays in the first half. He stopped Le’Veon Bell for no gain with a timely run blitz in the first half and finished with five total stops. Jarrad Davis missed a tackle on JuJu Smith-Schuster on a third-and-4 conversion across the middle, but he and Nick Bellore had close coverage on Antonio Brown for Ben Roethlisberger’s interception. Grade: B

Detroit Lions safety Glover Quin made an athletic play for his third interception this season, diving to snag Ben Roethlisberger's pass out of the air during Sunday's 20-15 loss to the Steelers at Ford Field.(Photo: Leon Halip/Getty Images)

Defensive backs

Roethlisberger threw for 317 yards, but 97 came on one pass to Smith-Schuster and he missed several other wide-open throws. Darius Slay mostly shut down Brown in man coverage, though Brown beat Miles Killebrew for a 40-yard pass. Slay drew one costly pass interference penalty to extend the Steelers’ final drive when he grabbed Eli Rogers’ hand to throw him off his route. Quandre Diggs got beat on Smith-Schuster’s long touchdown when he bit on an inside fake and couldn’t catch up to the rookie streaking down the middle of the field. He also drew a personal-foul penalty in the third quarter, then followed on the same drive with a huge tackle to upend Brown. Nevin Lawson had two busted coverages on the game’s opening drive, including a 41-yard pass to Smith-Schuster. Tavon Wilson led the run defensive effort with 11 tackles, and Glover Quin made a great play on his third interception of the year and recovered a fumble. Grade: B-minus

Special teams

Matt Prater accounted for all 15 of the Lions’ points Sunday, making field goals of 48, 37, 51, 34 and 19 yards. Prater, as usual, was a shining star. Sam Martin had an up-and-down game in his return from an ankle injury. He had six touchbacks on kickoffs, but shanked one of his three punts just 19 yards to start the second half. The Lions didn’t allow Brown a chance to return a punt, and Jamal Agnew had a couple short but nice returns himself. Grade: A-minus

Coaching

One question coming out of Sunday’s game was whether the Lions were right to try and convert a fourth-and-1 after losing Wagner to injury late in the fourth quarter. I believe they were, though it’s fair to question offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter’s play selection. The Lions’ defense was playing well at that point and at the 1-yard line, at that stage of the game, it was important to try and get in the end zone. Given the game situation, Jim Caldwell also made the right decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-1 the next series. Cooter showed a nice wrinkle getting Agnew involved in the offense, but his red-zone play-calling – where he relies too heavily on Washington – was unimpressive. The Lions also lost their cool at the end of the game, when Robinson was ejected and another player ran onto the field from the sideline. Grade: C-minus